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Interstellar Inquiry
"Interstellar Inquiry" is the 1st episode of season 2 in "The Hero Generation." Synopsis Joe questions his ability to be a hero when a new villain easily defeats his alien counterparts in battle. Plot So, my 'vacation,' so to speak, was actually pretty enjoyable. A whole month of no monster-busting activities, which was just fine with me. But when we left off last, Professor Krantz had gotten my KeyTrix, and the Red Sludge Beast popped out of it and kicked the Professor's butt. What we DIDN'T see was that the Professor had done a quick scan of my alien forms in the KeyTrix BEFORE Red Sludge Beast payed him a visit. So, you must be asking yourself, ''why should you worry, Joe? The City of Trash is buried in dirt. It ceases to exist now. ''Well, friends, you're wrong. As you may remember in my previous adventures with our old pal Nuke, he could irradiate stuff since his natural form was radioactive- inlcuding dirt & soil. So after The City of Trash was buried like a dog bone, Nuke burned away the soil and made yet another hollow underground base for his boss, none other than Professor Krantz. So, back to the problem. Professor Krantz has information uploaded from my KeyTrix. With this, he couldn't fulfil what he wanted to do originally- to create a being that could transform endlessly into millions of creatures. Nope, he'd need my KeyTrix for that. However, he was able to 'program,' if you will, yet another one of his mutants with the information he obtained- all my alien's strengths, weaknesses, powers, etc. And, on top of that, this new mutant has the ability to adapt to these aliens, like the ultimate nightmare predator. Isn't that awesome? (Sarcasm, of course.) So now that I've gotten you up-to-date with everything, let's get back to the actual story. ---- I blasted another freezing mist cloud at the overgrown reptile, but it simply shot flames from inbetween its scales like some sort of fire salamander and thawed itself out. Chill Factor vs. a pyro lizard? The odds were not in my favor. Then again, the odds would never be in my favor now that this creature knew all my weaknesses. I kept trying, though. I took off my nitrogen mask and blasted out a fog of freezing ice breath, but the reptile just burned the icy coldness off again. It did a flip over me, and clawed right through the nitrogen tank on my back. Oxygen leaked into the tank, and Oxygen was literally PURE POISON to Chill Factor's species. After sensing something was awry, the KeyTrix instantly reverted me back to human. I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing, or if it was a bad thing. "Nice going, lizard breath," I groaned. "I NEVER get to use Chill Factor. Now you went and ruined the moment." The reptile mutant only growled in reply. Not that it could talk, but the simple growl made it clear that I would be the next thing on its dinner menu. It leaped for the KeyTrix, which I was holding firmly in my palm. I dodged it, but barely. The reptile scratched my arm with its sharp claws. It ripped the fabric of my favorite olive green jacket, as well giving me a deep puncture wound. I pressed in the buttons on the sides of the KeyTrix, then scrolled through the holographic playlist of aliens. It was pretty much useless to continue fighting something that could completely counter all my moves, but... well, it was still worth a shot. I scrolled to the hologram of Igneo, and pushed down the dial. "Sticks and stones won't break my bones, and neither will you, lizard breath!" I said to the reptile. It roared, charging right at me. But why should I worry? Igneo's body was made of a material that was harder than anything. It couldn't be damaged. BAM! Boy, was I wrong. Sure, my rocky skin protected me. But the reptile mutant had adapted to Igneo by increasing its body mass to an unbelievable amount. The reptile was only as big as a park bench, but its body mass now weighed as much as three school buses. "Ow..." I said weakly. I managed to get back up on my feet. The lizard growled. It looked exactly the same, but somehow could still counter my moves. I raised my arms, and focused my gravity powers on the reptile mutant. I tried to move it, but its body mass was so heavy, I couldn't move it, even with gravity powers. "You're really stubborn, aren't you?" I asked the reptile. It was a rhetorical question, I suppose, since the reptile mutant couldn't reply to me. It lunged at me, and tacked me with extreme force. The reptile pinned me against the ground, keeping me from getting up. I was stuck, and there was no way I could get out. I sort of sat there for a few minutes, trying to figure out what the point of this was- the reptile was doing nothing. Just waiting. Waiting... for the KeyTrix to time out, so he could take it and return it to Krantz! I turned the dial on my chest a few notches and pressed in the hourglass symbol, hoping to turn into something useful. I felt my body swell up, and my legs inflate with muscles. "Aw, yeah, Rocky Toad! You're going down, lizard guy." I said. I kicked him off my body. "Wait," I said, "I thought you weighed a ton. How'd I kick you off so easy?" I shook my head. I didn't have time to think; I needed to fight. I squatted down, and got ready to jump. I'd simply jump really high, then do a pile driver into the lizard or something. I straightened out my legs extremely fast, sprining myself in the air. Only I didn't go anywhere. I looked down at my feet, and orange-yellow goop was stuck to my feet, keeping me glued to the ground. I looked over, the same goop dripping from the mutant reptile's mouth. "Aww..." I grunted. "You... sneaky little salamander." I tried to kick off the goop, but it was stuck really good. Suddenly, the reptile bared its sharp-as-knives teeth. Since I wasn't surrenduring, the reptile was going to force the KeyTrix from me. And something told me those teeth weren't sharp because he used them to chew hard candy. The reptile prodded over slowly, grinding and mashing its teeth. Just as the reptile was about to spit more gunky acid at me, I quickly turned the dial a few notches and pressed in the hourglass symbol on my chest, transforming into HayWire. The orange-yellow gunk got stuck in the creature's throat. As I finished transforming, the goop disappeared. The reptile's skin now gleamed a bit more, like its scales were... metallic. "Aw boy," I said, "you changed your skin tone just for me!? Reptile, I love you for who you are on the inside, not the outside." Then I let loose a reign of electricity, zapping the heck out of that dumb lizard. "Not!" I yelled. But when the bolts of electricity died down, the reptile still stood tall, completely unharmed. "Man, you got some healthy skin there," I said. "You don't need to worry about getting sun burn with THAT skin. I just zapped you with 20,000 watts of electricity and you're still fine and dandy. Quite something, don't ya say?" The reptile suddenly shot a stream of water from its mouth, directly at me. On contact, it electrocuted my body, shorting me out. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" I screamed. "STOP! STOP!" The KeyTrix timed out, and reverted me to human. "Uh oh." I whispered to myself. The reptile charged towards me. I tried to jump out of the way, but the reptile pinned by shoulder down to the ground. The reptile pawed open my fist, only to find an empty hand. It pawed open my other hand, finding only nothing. Uh oh... I must've dropped it when the reptile tackled me! The reptile and I both looked in unision at the KeyTrix, which was now lying on the ground only a few feet away. I grabbed onto the reptile's neck as it dashed over to the KeyTrix, but I was too late to grab it. The reptile grabbed the KeyTrix in its mouth and darted away. Good thing I knew where it was going to. ---- So, there I was, standing at the very dumpster that blocked the entrance to The City of Trash... or, what used to lead to The City of Trash. I have no idea what it looks like now. And I had even less of an idea on how I'd be able to move the dumpster out of the way. I crouched down, and observed the space between the dumpster and the ground. I might be able to squeeze under. I got all the way down the ground, and slid myself under the dumpster. It smelled PRETTY BAD. The bottom was stained with marks, like... I don't know, liquid trash? I didn't really want to know what it was. I clambered into the hole in the ground, losing my footing and falling through the rocky tunnel. When I got to the end of the tunnel, I fell onto fresh, soft soil. The City of Trash wasn't exactly looking so trashy anymore, which was a good thing, I guess. The Cardboard Mutants were gone. No sign of anyone anywhere, except for little doorways in a dome-shaped hollow of dirt. I slipped into one, but it was empty. Just a room with a fold-out table. I checked the next room- same as the first. I kept going, checking all of then. I stopped right before I was about to walk into another dirt room when I heard talking. "Yes, yes," the voice rasped, "I will finally be able to make the ULTIMATE MUTANT!" That's my cue. "Professor Krantz," I said, "Give me back my KeyTrix!" A dimly lit lamp illuminated the dirt room, which revealed the Professor poking at the KeyTrix with metal tools under a microscope. Next to him was a weird looking green thing that looked like it matched the KeyTrix somehow. "Like I'm going to hand it over to you," the Professor said. I darted over and grabbed the small machine thing that matched the KeyTrix. "No!" The Professor yelled. "Give me that!" "You're not much of a threat without your lizard friend, Krantz." I said. "Just give me that piece back," Krantz said. "Only if you give me back the KeyTrix." I bargained. "Not a chance, boy," he said. "I've been waiting for so long to get my hands on the KeyTrix." I loosened my grip on the device. "Hand over the KeyTrix, or I smash this thing on the ground." I said firmly. Professor Krantz's eyes widened. "You wouldn't," he said hoarsely. "It took me forever to make that!" "Just swap with me. I'll give you... this, thing, whatever it is, and you give me the KeyTrix back." "...Fine. You promise, right?" Krantz asked. "I held up my end of the bargain last time, didn't I, Professor?" I told him. "True..." he said, unlatching the KeyTrix from his microscope. We slowly went towards eachother, our hands extended, ready to swap devices. I quickly grabbed for the KeyTrix, and snatched it out of his hand. I pocketed the other device. "No!" Professor Krantz said. "Ha!" I laughed. "Oldest trick in the book. 'Oh, I promise.' Hahahaha!" "Give me back the Metaware!" Professor screamed, running towards me. I simply dodged him, and he ran into a wall. "The what?" I asked. Professor dusted himself off. "Get him," the Professor said. The reptile busted out of the dirt ceiling, instantly tackling him. "Give it up, boy. I'll eventually get that KeyTrix anyway." I pulled the other device out of my pocket, hoping it was some sort of high-tech alien grenade or something cool that could help me. I rotated it in my hands, but it didn't seem special. Then I noticed an hourglass-shaped indention out of the device, that looked like the KeyTrix could fit in place with. I quickly put the KeyTrix in place on the device. It sparked green electricity. The reptile tried to snap at it, but I pulled it away fast enough. I pressed in the buttons on the sides of the... what did Krantz call it, the Metaware? Yeah. I pushed in the buttons, scrolled through the holographic playlist, and pressed in the hourglass symbol when I reached BioHazard. I felt the normal transformation go as it usually did, but suddenly, a shock went through my body. My armor bulked up, and my bones stretched even farther. My whole body felt like it was going to break. I felt... different. More powerful, even. My armor was now shiny blue, and the black parts of my body were now red. I also felt like I had... four eyes? What? "It works!" The Professor exclaimed. I shot a green explosive disc at the reptile, only to discover the disc was now red and it was more circular. It shot at the reptile, broke open, and stretched a black rope around the reptile, tying it up. "Whoa," I said, my voice lower and more gravelly than usual. "This would be cool if it didn't hurt so much." I punched the reptile mutant square in the face, and it flew across the room. I sprouted my wings, and took off. "GET BACK HERE!" The Professor screamed at me. "GIVE ME BACK THE METAWARE!" "Yeah, right. I'm keeping it," I replied. "You owe me for trying to kill me all the time." I flew out through the hole exit, and punched the bottom of the dumpster. It simply flew upwards, then crashed back down the ground. The KeyTrix started timing out. This time, I felt a stinging run through my body as my blue armor returned to its normal red color. Then, the KeyTrix reverted me back to human. "Ow," I moaned. My bones still ached from that weird Metaware transformation. I carefully took the KeyTrix off of the Metaware and put them both into my pocket. Something that can upgrade my aliens? Pretty useful. But the pain is unbearable. I don't think I'll be using the Metaware any time soon. ---- And there you have it. Professor Krantz is still bothering me and sending his weird mutants to kill me and retrieve my KeyTrix, but it never works out for him. And now that I have the Metaware, I... well, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the Metaware. The transformations hurt too much when I used it as BioHazard. I can't wait to see what's in store for me next! Mutant birds? Flying plants that spit acid? Who knows. But that's all part of the fun, after all. Aliens used *Chill Factor *Igneo *Rocky Toad *HayWire *BioHazard Trivia *The Metaware is used for the first time. Category:Episodes Category:The Hero Generation